Configuring IP SLAs for Metro-Ethernet

Last Updated: March 22, 2011

This module describes how to configure an IP Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for Metro-Ethernet to gather network performance metrics in service-provider Ethernet networks. Available statistical measurements for the IP SLAs Ethernet operation include round-trip time, jitter (interpacket delay variance), and packet loss.

Finding Feature Information

Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest feature information and caveats, see the release notes for your platform and software release. To find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each feature is supported, see the Feature Information Table at the end of this document.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Prerequisites for IP SLAs for Metro-Ethernet

It is recommended that the IEEE 802.1ag standard is supported on the destination devices in order to obtain complete error reporting and diagnostics information.

Restrictions for IP SLAs for Metro-Ethernet

Memory and performance may be impacted for a given Ethernet CFM maintenance domain and Ethernet Virtual Circuit (EVC) or VLAN that has a large number of maintenance endpoints (MEPs).

You can manually configure individual Ethernet ping or Ethernet jitter operations by specifying the destination MEP identification number, name of the maintenance domain, and EVC or VLAN identifier or port level option.

You also have the option to configure an IP SLAs auto Ethernet operation (ping or jitter) that will query the Ethernet CFM database for all maintenance endpoints in a given maintenance domain and EVC or VLAN. When an IP SLAs auto Ethernet operation is configured, individual Ethernet ping or Ethernet jitter operations are automatically created based on the MEPs that were discovered. A notification mechanism exists between the IP SLAs and Ethernet CFM subsystems to facilitate the automatic creation of Ethernet ping or Ethernet jitter operations for applicable MEPs that are added to a given maintenance domain and EVC or VLAN while an auto Ethernet operation is running.

Statistics Measured by the IP SLAs Ethernet Operation

The network performance metrics supported by the IP SLAs Ethernet operation is similar to the metrics supported by existing IP SLAs operations. The statistical measurements supported by the IP SLAs Ethernet jitter operation include the following:

Jitter (source-to-destination and destination-to-source)

Round-trip time latency

Unprocessed packets

Packet loss (source-to-destination and destination-to-source)

Out-of-sequence, tail-dropped, and late packets

How to Configure IP SLAs for Metro-Ethernet

Note

There is no need to configure an IP SLAs responder on the destination device.

Troubleshooting Tips

Use the debugipslatrace and debugipslaerror commands to help troubleshoot issues with an individual IP SLAs Ethernet ping or Ethernet jitter operation. Use the debugipslaethernet-monitor command to help troubleshoot issues with an IP SLAs auto Ethernet operation.

What to Do Next

To add proactive threshold conditions and reactive triggering for generating traps, or for starting another operation, to an IP SLAs operation, see the "Configuring Proactive Threshold Monitoring" section.

To view and interpret the results of an IP SLAs operation use the showipslastatistics command. Checking the output for fields that correspond to criteria in your service level agreement will help you determine whether the service metrics are acceptable.

Configuration Examples for IP SLAs for Metro-Ethernet

Example IP SLAs Auto Ethernet Operation with Endpoint Discovery

The following examples shows the operation parameters, proactive threshold monitoring, and scheduling options for an IP SLAs auto Ethernet operation. In Configuration A, operation 10 is configured to automatically create IP SLAs Ethernet ping operations for all the discovered maintenance endpoints in the domain named testdomain and VLAN identification number 34. In Configuration B, operation 20 is configured to automatically create IP SLAs Ethernet ping operations for all the discovered maintenance endpoints in the domain named testdomain and EVC identified as testevc. In both configurations, the proactive threshold monitoring configuration specifies that when three consecutive connection loss events occur, an SNMP trap notification should be sent. The schedule period for operation 10 and operation 20 is 60 seconds, and both operations are scheduled to start immediately.

Example Individual IP SLAs Ethernet Ping Operation

The following example show the configuration for an IP SLAs Ethernet ping operation. In Configuration C, the maintenance endpoint identification number is 23, the maintenance domain name is testdomain, and the VLAN identification number is 34. In Configuration D, the maintenance endpoint identification number is 23, the maintenance domain name is testdomain, and the EVC is identified as testevc. In both configurations, the proactive threshold monitoring configuration specifies that when three consecutive connection loss events occur, an SNMP trap notification should be sent. Operation 1 and operation 5 are scheduled to start immediately.

RFCs

RFC

Title

No new or modified RFCs are supported by this feature, and support for existing RFCs has not been modified by this feature.

--

Technical Assistance

Description

Link

The Cisco Support and Documentation website provides online resources to download documentation, software, and tools. Use these resources to install and configure the software and to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues with Cisco products and technologies. Access to most tools on the Cisco Support and Documentation website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password.

Feature Information for IP SLAs for Metro-Ethernet

The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This table lists only the software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that software release train also support that feature.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Support for CFM d8.1 replaced support for CFM d1.0. IP SLAs integration with CFM d1.0 continues to be supported in Cisco IOS Release 15.0M and Cisco IOS Release 12.4(20)T.

Cisco and the Cisco Logo are trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1005R)

Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and phone numbers used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses and phone numbers. Any examples, command display output, network topology diagrams, and other figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses or phone numbers in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.